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TV Land June 2007 Highlights; Remembering Two People in the Sitcom World

TV Land has released its June highlights and it has no regular schedule changes but there are plenty of marathons and specials. First off, for some reason they have one-time-only airings of What's Happening Now!! (4:30a on June 5) and Cheers (4a on June 7). They are not scheduled for any other slots. The Friday night movies continue in June with Pleasantville, Arthur and Parenthood.
Ain't we lucky we got them? Even if it's for a couple of hours.
Tune in for a weekend of laughter and love as the Evan's show how to take care of family. That's right a Good Times Special Episodes marathon on June 2 and 3 from 11p-2a.
Celebrate Father's Day frontier-style with Bonanza! Watch Ben Cartwright and his boys as they bond through various trials and tribulations with a 4 hour TV Land marathon from noon to 4pm. Then at 8pm, tune in for a special presentation of Parenthood, starring one of film's favorite dads, Steve Martin.
Finally, there will be another mini-marathon of The Cosby Show on June 23 from 11p-2a with an encore on June 24 from 8-11p.
For complete details, click HERE.

After awhile of no deaths in the sitcom world, we have come across two big ones. Character actor Roscoe Lee Browne passed away Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after a long battle with cancer. Browne is an Emmy & Tony Award Winning Actor who is best probably known for his sitcom work. He has guest starred on series like Barney Miller and The Cosby Show, both of which he earned Emmy nominations (in fact he won for Cosby Show). Audiences probably remember him most for his regular role as Saunders (the butler who replaced Benson) on the last two seasons of Soap. He also guest starred on an episode of Benson, but not as Saunders. Or they might remember his role with Archie Bunker in the elevator on an episode of All in the Family. He also guest starred as the original teacher, the one who substitute Mr. Moore (Howard Hessemen) replaced on Head of the Class.
Roscoe was truly a great veteran actor and he certainly will be missed. Mr. Browne was 81.

We also mourn the loss of the co-creator of Taxi today. Stan Daniels, an Emmy-winning TV writer and producer who worked on two of the most acclaimed comedies of the 1970s, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Taxi, has died. Daniels died of heart failure April 6, according to Mount Sinai Memorial Park. Daniels won eight Emmys during his long television career, including three as co-creator and executive producer of Taxi and three as a writer on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He directed episodes of the 80s comedy Dear John as well. His great work behind the camera will be dearly missed. Mr. Daniels was 72.

Notes from the Underbelly, a new sitcom, debuts tonight at 10/9 central, only on ABC!

ABC Mid-Season Pilot Review: Notes from the Underbelly - Premieres April 12; More 'Fresh' This Weekend on Nick at Nite

Notes from the Underbelly - Regular Airings Wednesdays at 8:30PM ET/PT on ABC
Premieres Thursday, April 12th at 10 and 10:30PM ET/PT

Director/producer Barry Sonnenfeld and producers Kim and Eric Tannenbaum ("Two and a Half Men") bring a comic take on life's greatest adventure -- parenthood. This ensemble comedy proves that surviving the politics of pregnancy and maintaining your relationships with family and friends can be just as demanding as raising a child.

Andrew (Peter Cambor) and Lauren (Jennifer Westfeldt, "Kissing Jessica Stein") have just found out they're going to have a baby, and they're having a difficult time following rule number one -- keeping it a secret. Suddenly switching to decaf, becoming a teetotaler at cocktail parties, and going to the OBGYN are all difficult to keep from family and close friends.

Surrounding Andrew and Lauren as they embark on their journey is a close-knit circle of friends -- all of whom have varying opinions, experience and advice on starting a family. Julie (Melanie Paxson) and Eric (Sunkrish Bala), also in the family way for the first time, are the overly excited, slightly obnoxious expectant parents that Andrew and Lauren never want to become. Lauren's best friend, Cooper (Rachael Harris), is a divorce attorney and career woman who is skeptical of marriage altogether, and will do her best to keep Lauren from becoming another member of the "mommy cult." Andrew's buddy, Danny (Michael Weaver), is an immature child in his own right, whose chief concern is meeting hot women. Can Andrew and Lauren juggle the freedom and spontaneity of their old lives and the responsibility of their new ones? Will they be able to straddle the worlds of their carefree single friends and the ever-changing world of their married ones?

Andrew will narrate each episode, giving his wry and often sarcastic interpretation of the events that are going on around him. Lauren may be getting the stretch marks, but Andrew has to pretend that he doesn't notice them. Through it all, Andrew and Lauren come to learn that what's best for the child could be the easiest part... maintaining your relationships with family and friends might be the real challenge.

Based on Risa Green's novel of the same name, "Notes from the Underbelly" was created by Stacy Traub ("Kitchen Confidential.") Traub, Barry Sonnenfeld, Kim Tannenbaum and Eric Tannenbaum serve as executive producers. The series is from The Tannenbaum Company, Hill Three Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Cast: Jennifer Westfeldt as Lauren, Peter Cambor as Andrew, Michael Weaver as
Danny, Rachael Harris as Cooper, Melanie Paxson as Julie, and Sunkrish Bala as Eric

Read our review of the pilot and two other episodes here.

Discuss the show after you watch it on Thursday on our message board.

Related Links:

ABC.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Notes from the Underbelly Photo Gallery


Turning to the news, yes, it is that time of the week again where Nick at Nite announces that they have changed their regular weekend line-up for the coming weekend. This time it will be three days of Fresh Prince with very early morning airings of Cosby Show, Growing Pains, Full House and Murphy Brown. to see the schedule for these three days click HERE. Hope you all enjoy all this Fresh Prince they keep airing. No Roseanne at least this weekend.

Posted by Todd -- SitcomsOnline.com at 3:25 PM

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Labels: ABC, Cosby Show, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Full House, Growing Pains, Murphy Brown, Nick at Nite, Notes from the Underbelly, Pilot Reviews

ION Television May Highlights; Pick Your Favorite 'Queens' Episode for Week of May 7

ION Television has released its May schedule and highlights and there are no changes, as of now. They just made changes in April, so I wasn't expecting any changes. I think we will see changes in June or July next, when the weekend primetime RHI programming starts. Could that mean they will expand to more hours by then? Personally I'm hoping for at least 3-11PM on weekdays. They could do a nice family sitcom block from 3-5PM, followed by a family drama at 5 and then sitcoms and Diagnosis Murder from 6-11PM. Just my take. Anyway, as for May, there are no changes but the weekend movies include the classic '80s movie Short Circuit and a few golden classics such as Jet Pilot from 1957 and Cheyenne Autumn from 1964. ION has also edited the movies a bit for April adding the original Ocean's Eleven from 1960 for this Sunday (April 15).
To see the ION May highlights, click HERE.

The King of Queens returned last night for its 200th episode and its final 7 episodes before leaving the air on May 14. In anticipation for the finale, Sony Pictures is asking to pick your top 5 episodes of all-time to air during the week of May 7 in national syndication.
For the first time ever, Sony Pictures Television (SPT) -- with the help of the 208 affiliates in 98% of the country carrying the highly-rated sitcom in syndication -- will ask fans to vote for their favorite "The King of Queens Viewers Choice" episodes and have their selections subsequently air in national syndication.
Beginning Monday, April 16, through Friday, April 27, "The King of Queens Viewers Choice" episodes will be posted on Yahoo! TV. For reference, twelve of the most popular episodes from the past eight seasons, along with brief descriptions and clips, will be displayed to make the process of voting more entertaining. In addition, The King of Queens stations' websites will be directly connected with the SPT's www.thekingofqueens.com site, giving voters yet another method to cast their ballot. On Monday, April 30, at the conclusion of the internet polling from all internet sources, the votes from each venue will be tabulated, and the "top five" list will be created.
In addition, viewers will also have a chance to "see where it all began" when stations across the country broadcast the pilot episode on May 14, the same day as the nine-year network series finale broadcasts on CBS.
So your top 5 will air each day the week of May 7. Also, you can win prizes for participating. To find out the complete details including the list of episodes to choose from, the prizes, and more, click HERE.

If we have more news we will come back, as it is still early. Stay tuned tomorrow for our pilot review of Notes from the Underbelly, premiering Thursday at 10 on ABC, with airings Wednesdays at 8:30 following the premiere.

'Barker' Pulled from NBC Thursday; 'Strokes' Back on Comcast's Tube Time

New sitcom Andy Barker, P.I., which has been airing on NBC Thursdays at 9:30, will be pulled effective immediately and replaced by Scrubs. NBC plans to air the last scheduled episode on Saturday, April 14 at 8 followed by the sixth episode which was supposed to be an online only episode, but now NBC will just burn it off on-air. So how does it look for a season two for this show? A zero chance. Looks like a strike three for Andy Richter, as this is his third sitcom that has failed (Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Quintuplets, Andy Barker). If NBC just pulled it and decided to bring it back and launch it later, it would have seemed like it had a chance at least to come back, but after banishing its last airings on a Saturday, it looks even worse. How will the ratings be? If it gets 3 million, I'll be surprised. If it gets a 1.0 18-49 rating, I'll be surprised. And those numbers are bad. Such a sad state for sitcoms these days (ratings wise)...

Comcast's On-Demand channel TubeTime has returned classic '80s sitcom Diff'rent Strokes to its service. Instead of going in order, this time the show is categorized into three categories: Classic Episodes, Very Special Episodes, and Janet Jackson Episodes. Among the classic episodes are the pilot, "The Spanking," "Arnold's Hero," and "Birds & Bees." The Very Special Episodes are the classic multiple part episodes that the show is famous for, some include: "The Bank Job," "The Bicycle Man", and "The Wedding." And the Janet Jackson episodes include: "First Love," "The Music Man," and "The Houseguest." Now some are not available yet, as new episodes are added each week, so keep checking the Comcast website by clicking HERE.
Let's hope we get Season 3 on DVD sometime soon. I hope by the end of the summer.

Week 29: How the Sitcoms Did

Due to Good Friday/Easter (Happy Easter everyone!) we don't have final numbers for Thursday, thus we won't give the final averages for the first four nights and an analysis. We do have How the Sitcoms Did, but Thursday's numbers are preliminary.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of March 26-April 1)

• The War at Home (Fox) 2 episodes - 3.39 million for a repeat and just 3.65 million for a new episode...but up slightly from previous week (both the repeat and new one).
  
• The Simpsons (Fox) - A repeat did 6.63 million, almost more than last week's 6.97 million, which was a new episode.
  
• King of the Hill (Fox) - 6.39 million for a new episode, up from last week's 6.08 million.
  
• Family Guy (Fox) - 6.75 million for an encore.
  
• American Dad (Fox) - 5.94 million for a new episode, down from last week because the lead-in was a repeat.
  

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A repeat did just 5.58 million, down from last week's repeat even.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - A repeat at a special time of 8:30pm did 6.86 million, down big from usual repeat levels, but higher than the normal 8:30pm show repeats.
  
• CW Monday Comedies: Chris, All of Us, Girfriends, The Game. Repeat of Chris started it off with 1.79 million, the highest of the block. All of Us did 1.68 million, Girlfriends did 1.63 million and The Game built on it and did 1.76 million. Repeats should be at least 2 million...
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - Tuesday repeat did 4.3 million, not great, but whatever.
  
• According to Jim (ABC) - Tuesday repeat did 4.18 million as ABC put it against Idol.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - 2 all-new episodes did decent, 5.99 and 6.53 million...guest stars galore!
  
• According to Jim (ABC) - New episode did just 5.43 million (though up from last week), but not that bad head to head with Idol.
  
• In Case of Emergency (ABC) - 4.81 million, slightly up from last week....just 2 more to go.
  
• 'Til Death (Fox) - 13.95 million from Idol's 26.1 million...is nothing to write home about, but at least it is consistent the last few weeks, but both went down a bit.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• The Office (NBC) - A super-sized episode was down from normal numbers, just a prelim 4.3 rating and a 3.1 18-49 prelim rating. I think it needs Earl...8pm is too early for this show.
• 30 Rock (NBC) - It came back with a super-sized episode, but still not going well in the ratings, fell off from the lead-in to its normal numbers.
  
• Scrubs (NBC) - Moved to 9:30 starting tonight and did a bit worse than usual, just a prelim 3.3 rating and a prelim 2.4 18-49 number.
  
• Andy Barker, P.I. (NBC) - The last airing probably on Thursday ever, as the show did just a 2.6 prelim rating and a terrible 1.8 18-49 prelim rating. Word is the final airing will be next Saturday instead of Thursday.
  
• My Name is Earl. (NBC) - A special repeat at a special time of 10:30pm held all of Barker's numbers.
  
• Family Guy (Fox) - 2 repeats did 2.9 and 3.0 prelim ratings.
  

Friday Sitcoms
None.

Saturday Sitcoms
None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are Fox comedies.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, 'Til Death, and George Lopez 8:30 were impressive for the week (pathetic week). Everything else was OK (such as According to Jim, The Office) or just plain old terrible (such as Scrubs and Andy Barker, P.I.).

Mini-DVD Review: Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show (April 17)

Welcome to another Saturday edition of mini-DVD reviews! Today we have we take a look at Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The Larry Sanders Show of course was the cable comedy that took spoof of a talk show. The show is hilarious and had great guest stars. See Seth Thrasher's mini-DVD review of Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show:

Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show (Sony, $49.95) is a "Best of" compilation of 24 of the best episodes of The Larry Sanders Show, plus more special/extra features on the set than I think I have seen in every other Sony set I have ever reviewed, combined. The show stars comedian Garry Shandling as Larry Sanders, the vain and neurotic host of a Tonight Show-esque talk show entitled The Larry Sanders Show. The comedy would run on HBO for 6 years (1992–1998), then would enjoy a few years in syndication – where *I* was first exposed to this wonderful show.
This set is a sort of "appeasement" -- some factor, probably sales figures, caused Sony to decide not to release season sets of the show, so they threw together a couple dozen episodes and features to try to at least give the fans *something*. This is, however, a problem, as the people who this set is targeted toward definitely prefer season sets, and aren't just happy with "best of" releases. I myself used to have this "all or nothing" mentality as well, but I realized one day that I'm probably NEVER going to see complete season/series sets of several of my favorite shows on DVD, ever. While in some cases it's just the studios thinking with their wallets, as is the apparent case with Larry Sanders not getting season sets -- in several cases, including The Price is Right, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, etc., -- there are just too many episodes. Realizing that fact helped me come to appreciate *any* DVD release -– at least of newly-released episodes –- that gets put out, even if it's not the way I want it. It may not be exactly what fans were hoping for, but do you see even a best of set for a show as widely popular as, say, Family Matters? I think not.
Also impressing me with this set is the absolute glut of special features. Most episodes included have deleted scenes. FOUR episodes have audio commentary -- a feature I'm used to only seeing on Seinfeld and NewsRadio. There are video interviews with stacks and stacks of people, including Alec Baldwin, Ellen Degeneres, David Duchovny, and more. The final disc has even MORE, including a feature-length documentary, "The Making of the Larry Sanders Show," more interviews, Rip Torn and Jeffrey Tambor visiting Garry in his living room, etc.
The episodes themselves look fairly nice, if a bit compressed. The colors for the most part are bright and solid, without being overpowering. The audio is fine -- no problems or defects, the vocals are crisp and clear -- it is all good. My one and only problem with this set are the menus. For all the effort that went into every last facet of this release, the menus are abhorrent. The options appear as a text list -- a platinum color in front of a black background -- and that's it. It doesn't fit the style of the rest of the release, and looks remarkably simple. This is the only detraction form the release, though.
There are going to be some folks who are quite displeased the show is not getting a full series set, at least not immediately. Nothing I can say, aside from gushing into next Wednesday's blog entry about the special features, is going to change your minds -- but DO consider this set. What is here is wonderful, truly wonderful, and strong sales numbers -- or some kind-hearted folks at Sony -- could lead us to seeing the rest of the series on DVD down the run after all.

-- Reviewed by Seth Thrasher
(4/5 stars)

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Anchor Bay Works on Fans Favorites DVD for 'Company', Lifetime Real Women Drops Two Favorites in June

Anchor Bay will continue to release Three's Company on DVD even though they have finished the series in complete season sets. So far we have gotten a best of set featuring John Ritter's favorite episodes and coming in May we have Joyce DeWitt's favorite episodes, handpicked by her. Remember when the official Three's Company website, ThreesCompany.com, was asking fans to vote for their favorite seven episodes some months back (If you don't, click HERE to refresh your memory)? Well now can reveal why they were doing that! Anchor Bay Entertainment will release a special "Fans' Favorites" DVD set. The episodes are handpicked by YOU. The episodes have not been revealed yet, but your top 7 or so will be on it. No word yet on when it will be released and if any extras will be on it. Fans hoping to have complete series sets for both spin-offs The Ropers & Three's a Crowd, must persuade Anchor Bay or any other studio to pick up the rights. DLT Entertainment, the owner of the series, is trying very hard to put it on DVD, but so far no company is showing interest. Please show your case to Anchor Bay and other studios and also thank DLT for trying and keep telling them to keep trying. E-mail them: Anchor Bay: TVonDVD@anchorbayent.com and DLT: 3sco@dltentertainment.com Besides Anchor Bay, I think studios like Shout! or S'more would be interested. E-mail them: Shout: info@shoutfactory.com and S'more: info@smoreent.com It's not really that much work. Believe me, you will make a difference. Lifetime Real Women (one of Lifetime's spin-off channels) currently airs a Laverne & Shirley block everyday from 3-5pm. Well, starting June 4 that is not happening anymore. So, if you haven't started taping the episodes, do it now as you still have two months before this change happens. The sitcom will be replaced by Strong Medicine, Missing and The Division from 3-5pm. Any Day Now will move from 6pm to 2pm, as Wild Card takes the 6pm slot. Providence fans don't have to worry as the show will remain at 7pm, but 10pm will be replaced by Angela's Eyes. And besides Laverne & Shirley, another show will be dumped. Unsolved Mysteries, which is airing weekdays at 11pm will be replaced by another Strong Medicine. The Friday and Saturday 4-6am block of Unsolved Mysteries will be replaced by Intimate Portrait. Start taping the next two months!

Nick at Nite Sked Change; More TV Land Awards Details; WGN Adds 'Chappelle's', More for Fall 2007

Once again Nick at Nite will not air their regular schedule this Saturday and Sunday. The last few weeks they have aired nothing but Fresh Prince. This week it will be a mix of Roseanne and Fresh Prince all night long. Roseanne from 10p-1a & 4-6a on Saturday and 9p-1a & 4-6a on Sunday and Fresh Prince 1-4a on both nights. It is likely they will do this each weekend, but for now it is just for this weekend.
They have also schedule Designing Women to the late Thursday (early Friday) 5:30 a.m. slot starting April 12. Murphy Brown will air at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday nights (early Sundays), as well. Since Nick at Nite likes to change their weekend schedule to all Fresh/Roseanne, Murphy will probably never air. As always, this is subject to change, especially with this network. View it in list form if you prefer that.

TV Land announced today that it will salute Lucille Ball, Roots, The Brady Bunch, Taxi and Hee Haw among others at the Fifth Annual TV Land Awards hosted by Kelly Ripa (taping on Saturday, April 14). The gala premieres on TV Land on Sunday, April 22nd at 9 p.m. ET/PT and will be rebroadcast on TV Land's sister network, Nick at Nite that same night beginning at 11 p.m. ET/PT.
Legendary comedienne Carol Burnett will bestow the Legacy of Laughter Award on Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr. on behalf of their mother, Lucille Ball for her groundbreaking career and body of work including her enduring sitcom I Love Lucy. The cast of The Brady Bunch will be reunited on stage to accept the Pop Culture Award. The landmark mini-series Roots, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, will be honored for its place in television history. The Entertainer Award will be given to Hee Haw, one of television's longest running country music series. Taxi, which launched and furthered the careers of several Hollywood notables, will be awarded the Medallion Award for keeping the meter running for all these years.
TV Land will also present awards in several other categories, including the 2006 Future Classic Award - which TV Land unveiled in 1998 and is presented annually to the one new show from the previous calendar year that best exemplifies the qualities of an emerging television classic.
To view the full release with more information, including a list of attendees thus far, click HERE.

Beginning this fall, Chapelle's Show, will join Superstation WGN. Chapelle's Show features comedian Dave Chappelle as the host of this cutting-edge sketch-comedy. The first three seasons of the half-hour show have been acquired for a two-year run.
It will begin airing nationally on Superstation in Late Fringe, where it will run as part of a late night comedy block that includes new addition Reno 911, successful comedies like Scrubs and Becker, and newcomer Corner Gas, Canada's #1 sitcom premiering on Superstation WGN this fall.

NBC, Fox, ABC, CW Notes, Includes '30 Rock' Renewal for 07-08 Season; Interview with Maureen 'Marcia Brady' McCormick

We have more schedule notes to tell you, but before I start on that, NBC has renewed rookie sitcom 30 Rock for the 2007-08 season, despite not that good ratings. The show is a critical hit and stars Tina Fey. The show returns Thursday, April 5, with a special super-sized episode from 8:40 p.m. to 9:20 p.m. ET before moving to its new 9:00 p.m. Thursday slot the following week.
Sticking with NBC, we mentioned a few days ago that they would cut The Black Donnellys short and will remove starting on April 23, but after this week's bad ratings, NBC has pulled it effective immediately. A second hour of the new NBC improv series Thank God You're Here will air instead. April 16 is still TBD, but if Thank God does well, NBC is likely to air that again.
And Fox has also pulled a show they promised to air until after its April 20 airing. Friday drama The Wedding Bells will be pulled two weeks earlier than expected. The show will be replaced by encores of Bones starting April 20. A movie will air next Friday. This Friday will be the last for this short lived drama. Meanwhile, Fox will bring back Trading Spouses to Thursdays at 9 starting April 12. April 12 & 19 will be encores and the season finale will be a two-part episode on April 26 and May 3.
The CW is saying that 7th Heaven will have its series finale on Sunday, May 13 at 8 p.m. This looks like it actually will be the series finale as the ratings haven't been that good on Sundays. 7th Heaven aired Mondays at 8 for years prior to this season. Over 7 million tuned in to last year's finale, which was labeled a series finale until The CW made a last minute renewal.
The CW's mid-season drama Hidden Palms finally has a date, but it will launch in the summer. The CW has slotted it for Wednesday, May 30 at 8 p.m. One Tree Hill will follow at 9 p.m. and will be new for the first three weeks Palms airs. The CW is expected to air eight episodes of Palms. The show focuses on Johnny Miller, a teen who is struggling to come to terms with two tragedies in the strange and artificial atmosphere of Palm Springs. The show is produced by Kevin Williamson.
Finally, ABC has confirmed to us that the final two Thursdays of the season following all-new Grey's Anatomy episodes will be the return of Men in Trees. Trees has five episodes left, but ABC will only air two of them (May 10 and May 17 at 10), and hold the other three over for next season likely.

For those of you who are Three's Company fans like myself, know all about the great Chris Mann. Mann of course wrote the wonderful book Come and Knock on Our Door, and Mann continues to write. He just did an article/interview for TV Guide. He interviewed Marcia Brady herself--Maureen McCormick! Maureen will be featured in the new season of Celebrity Fit Club, premiering on VH-1 on Sunday, April 22. Maureen will also be reunited with her fellow Brady Bunch gang in the 5th TV Land Awards airing also on April 22 (tapes on April 14), accepting the Pop Culture Award. Mann talks to Maureen about all of that, turning 50, her overcome of bulimia and much more! Click HERE to view this great piece! The Brady Bunch Complete Series DVD is on sale, but before you buy it, don't forget to read our review.
Mann will have another interview with Maureen in the May issue of Get Active! magazine, available nationally at Bally Total Fitness and several other health and fitness clubs. That story, will probably also will be posted on GetActiveMagazine.com sometime next month, will have more details of her Celebrity Fit Club experience and her inspiring personal transformation, as well as her fond memories of her mother. Mann also asked her if people still say, "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" to her and she said, "Oh, yeah! All the time!"

ABC Changes 'Underbelly' Regular Slot Again, Pulls 'Degrees'; Fox Halts 'Wedding'; CBS Salutes Bob Barker in Primetime

ABC has once again altered the timeslot for yet to premiere new sitcom Notes from the Underbelly. Notes will still premiere with back-to-back episodes on Thursday, April 12 following a Grey's Anatomy special, but after that the show will move to Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. starting April 18. It will follow According to Jim. Jim is expected to air at 8 and 9 (new and a repeat) on April 18, with the season finale of In Case of Emergency wrapping up at 9:30 on April 18. Jim will be moving to 8pm because starting April 25, Lost encores from the previous week will air at 9 p.m. leading into an all-new episode. George Lopez will be airing new episodes in back-to-back slots on Wednesday, April 4 & 11 and also on Tuesday, April 17 (its new night). Guest stars all over the place with Barbara Eden, Jerry Springer, and Mario Lopez. Andy Garcia also directed one of the episodes. George will move and stay in the Tuesday 8-9pm slot for the rest of the season. For more on the Wednesday sitcom schedule and this Tuesday note, click HERE.
October Road was slated to only air four episodes this season, but since it has done very well, ABC will air the last two episodes of its season order April 19 and April 26 following all-new episodes of Grey's Anatomy! No idea yet what will air after Grey's on May 10 and 17, but May 3 will be the backdoor spin-off pilot for Grey's Anatomy starring Kate Walsh, Taye Diggs, and Tim Daly.
Finally, ABC is pulling Six Degrees from the Friday line-up effective this Friday after a series low last week. The show has just aired two episodes since returning from hiatus. The show heated up in the episode this past Friday, but unfortunately the temperature didn't rise in 'degrees' in the ratings. No word yet if and when the remaining episodes will air or if it will air on abc.com. Repeats of Wife Swap will temporary air at 9 on Fridays. And no word yet if Men in Trees will return. All bets are that the remaining five episodes for Trees will be held over until next season.

David E. Kelly Drama The Wedding Bells is halting production after just seven episodes produced. Which means the show will at most air for another three weeks. The show has been going down in the ratings each Friday at 9 for Fox. The last episode will air (if it actually airs) April 20 (the last Friday before May sweeps starts).

Emmy Award winner Bob Barker will be honored with two final primetime specials this May on CBS, paying tribute to his 50 years in show business and his upcoming retirement after 35 years of hosting The Price Is Right, the longest-running game show in television history. The specials will be broadcast Wednesday, May 16 and Thursday, May 17 from 8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT on CBS.
On Wednesday, May 16, CBS will present The Price is Right Million Dollar Spectacular, Barker's final appearance in prime time hosting the show he has led since 1972. In this special primetime edition, contestants will have the opportunity to win bigger prizes and the chance to spin the wheel for $1 million.
On Thursday, May 17, Bob Barker: A Celebration of 50 Years on Television will include Barker's reminiscences about his 50 year career on television and his 35 years on The Price Is Right, in addition to highlighting some classic games from the long-running show.
CBS will air 15-second viewer tributes to retiring host Bob Barker. Viewer tributes will air during the Bob Barker: A Celebration of 50 Years on Television" special.
The user-generated video tributes are a continuation of CBS Interactive's "15 Seconds" campaign, where viewers post their 15-second messages on YouTube, and CBS Interactive then chooses the best viewer-videos to be broadcast on the Network.
Viewers can submit their 15-second taped message now on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/group/15seconds. The videos need to be a 15-second tribute to Bob Barker. Every two weeks, CBS Interactive will select five videos from the "15 Seconds on CBS" YouTube Group and post them on CBS.com. From those "favorites," CBS Interactive will select the videos for broadcast. Viewers submitting videos must be 16 years of age or older and must abide by YouTube's Community Guidelines at http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines. No profanity or nudity will be accepted. Rules and details regarding CBS Interactive's "15 Seconds" community campaign can be found on CBS.com at http://www.cbs.com/originals/15_seconds.
Bob Barker's last The Price is Right regular episode will air in June only on CBS daytime!

Jeannie and Springer on 'George Lopez' This Week; CBS Announces Season Finale Dates; NBC Pull 'Donnellys' Early

ABC will now air two new episodes of George Lopez this Wednesday rather than repeats. Both episodes will feature a special guest star. The first episode has Barbara Eden from I Dream of Jeannie at 8:00 followed by Jerry Springer at 8:30. These two episodes were scheduled for April 25 but ABC has decided to air them this week instead leading into a baseball themed episode of According to Jim and a new In Case of Emergency.
Eden's episode plot line: Much to Benny's dismay, George and Angie hire a maid (guest starring Barbara Eden as Ruth) who quickly cooks and cleans her way into George's heart.
Springer's episode plot line: When the love of Benny's life (guest starring Jerry Springer as Wayne Hill) returns to town, George builds a web of lies to keep them from reuniting.

CBS has announced season finale dates for most of its series. CBS in May will feature the unpredictable finales of the network's hit series along with a royal farewell to long-running sitcom The King of Queens when the comedy ends its nine-year, 200-plus episode run with a special one-hour finale.
Also in May, the winner of Survivor: Fiji will be crowned in a special two-hour broadcast on a special night (Sunday), and the final three teams dash to the finish line and the $1 million prize in The Amazing Race: All Stars.
Also of note, hit drama Without a Trace will air its season finale in its old home Thursday at 10 on May 10!
For the CBS season finale dates, click HERE.

NBC has announced it has scheduled new reality series The Real Wedding Crashers, from Ashton Kutcher and inspired by the movie Wedding Crashers, Monday nights at 10 p.m. starting April 23 for 6 weeks. The show will air following the return of Heroes on April 23.
In the six outrageous, one-hour episodes, wedding couples team up with five "crashers" to create the most memorable wedding weekend their guests will never forget! The crash team consists of five quick-thinking, hilarious improv performers who've made it their mission to infiltrate a wedding, going undercover as wedding staff and guests to save them from run-of-the-mill boredom. The bride and groom are in on the fun as they assist the "crashers" to take on outrageous characters and personalities to pull off some fun and outlandish pranks.
Because of this move The Black Donnellys will be either homeless or moved to another night and time. Personally, I think it will be homeless. So far only five have aired and 3 more expected to air including tonight. I think about 5 will be left unaired unless NBC reschedules.

Week 28 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did

Week 28 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: Fox: 8.8/14.0; CBS: 7.3/11.9; ABC: 6.9/11.3; NBC: 5.0/8.2; The CW: 2.0/3.1; MNT: 0.7/1.1.
Total Viewers: Fox: 14.61 million; CBS: 11.25 million; ABC: 10.55 million; NBC: 7.56 million; The CW: 2.9 million; MNT: 0.97 million.
Adults 18-49: Fox: 5.8/15.8; ABC: 3.4/9.4; CBS: 3.3/9.0; NBC: 2.7/7.3; The CW: 1.3/3.5; MNT: 0.4/1.1.

Analysis: The 28th week saw the second week of ABC's Dancing with the Stars continue to do very well on Mondays and the first results show scored big. Fox did well like usual with American Idol, but Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, dipped to a series low for the third straight week. Through the first four nights, Fox has the lead, followed by CBS and ABC battling for second place in HH, viewers and 18-49. NBC will be 4th place in all categories. They sure miss Sunday Night Football. As usual, Friday and Saturday numbers are not above, since final numbers are not available yet. Tonight has ABC airing all-new episodes (but Housewives is a recap special), and CBS is all new. Fox's comedies are a mix of new and repeats and NBC's reality is a mix of old and new. Expect ABC to win because CBS is pre-empting Cold Case for a two-hour Amazing Race.
On Monday Dancing with the Stars continued to tale over Mondays for ABC. 20.42 million watched the two-hour season episode. CBS's CSI: Miami was a repeat but it did well at 10pm with 13.12 million at 10pm and NBC's Deal or No Deal was down against Stars, but still solid with 10.98 and 12.18 for a repeat and a new episode. Is NBC really treating this like Millionaire? They keep airing it and repeats now too. CBS's sitcoms were all repeats tonight. 8-9pm sitcoms were hurt the most for CBS, doing 5.61 and 5.66 million for repeat episodes. Two and a Half Men repeat rose from those numbers and did 10.37 million, with a repeat of Rules of Engagement following and not holding the lead-in's numbers like it has been doing, just 7.99 million. Fox was not that affected by Stars, but both Prison Break & 24 were down from usual numbers (and slightly from last week), they did 8.24 and 11.78 million. ABC and NBC did bad at 10pm, ABC did just 6.79 million for the season finale of What About Brian and NBC's Black Donnelleys continues to go down each week, with just 5.43 million. The CW's comedies are still under performing on this night as they still can't get 3 million. All four were close to each other though.
Tuesday was Fox's night. American Idol did 28.18 million at 8 and House returned with 20.8 million (down from what it does usually after Idol). ABC was on the map thanks to Dancing with the Stars: The Results doing 17.93 million at 9, with a special performance recap special doing 9.62 million. A special preview of The Great American Dream Vote bombed with just 5.88 million at 10. Boston Legal returns this Tuesday and will likely double that. NBC aired new episodes of both Law & Order spin-offs doing 8.85 and 12.86 million from 9-11pm, with Dateline kicking the night off with just 5.84 million. CBS was a rare fourth with repeats of NCIS, The Unit from 8-10 (10.84 and 7.34 million), and a repeat of Shark aired at 10 with 7.59 million. The CW aired a repeat of Gilmore Girls (1.91 million) and a new Pussycat Dolls (2.67 million).
Wednesday again Fox got the boost from its one show wonder American Idol, doing 26.89 million for its 9pm half-hour followed by the sitcom 'Til Death losing almost 1/2 that with 14.46 million. Bones opened the night off for Fox with a respectable 10.58 million. CBS was second for the night with Jericho doing just 8.52 million but repeats of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY followed and did good with 10.98 and 10.69 million. ABC's followed with Great American Dream Vote's first and last airing in its regular timeslot doing just4.54 million (down 1.5 million+ from normal programming in this slot), a new According to Jim & a new In Case of Emergency followed doing a below average 4.48 and 4.31 million and an all-new Lost, did also below average thanks to the terrible lead-ins, doing 11.52 million, but it won the hour in viewers and 18-49. NBC saw Friday Night Lights do just 5.68 million, Crossing Jordan followed with just 7.02 million, though up from last week. A new Medium followed with just 7.66 million. The CW was on the map thanks to America's Next Top Model doing a decent 5.32 million...not bad at all, followed by an encore of Tuesday's Pussycat Dolls doing 3.1 million.
On Thursday we saw CBS dominate, as ABC was in repeats from 8-10. CBS's Survivor: Fiji returned after a few weeks off on Thursdays with a below than normal 13.71 million. CSI and Shark followed with 22.71 and 14.49 million, first in both hours. ABC's Grey's Anatomy was a repeat at 9pm with 9.46. A repeat of Ugly Betty opened the night off with 7.41 million. Fox's Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? hit another series low but has probably leveled off with 10.59 million. ABC's third episode of the impressive October Road closed the night off with 8.24 million (down from its first two airings but that is because there was no new episode of Grey's Anatomy), much better than Men in Trees. Fox closed the night with repeats of Family Guy doing just 4.34 and 4.32 million. NBC aired encores of The Office and an all-new episode of Andy Barker, P.I. (doing a pathetic 4.16 million). And CW aired repeats of its Thursday dramas doing 2.81 and 2.24 million.
Friday (numbers not counted in our ratings), saw CBS win the night with its dramas. NBC was a distant second with the disappointing Identity and Raines. ABC had a more dismal than usual Friday with a repeat Grey's Anatomy doing below normal and the second episode return of Six Degrees did worse than last week but 20/20 built on that and did a bit better, but way off from last week. The CW did decent for its WWE coverage and Fox didn't do so well with Wedding Bells at 9 but a House repeat at 8 started off well. Overall a blah night that needs a makeover next fall.
Saturday ratings are not available yet. As for tonight, ABC will win with its normal line-up. ABC's is all-new (DH is a recap special though) and should win at least in 18-49 and maybe total viewers since CBS's Cold Case is not on. As for this week in general, look for Dancing with the Stars to continue to do well even opposite the NCAA Championship game!

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of March 19-25)

• The War at Home (Fox) 2 episodes -2.78 million for a repeat and just 3.56 million for a new episode...but up slightly from previous week
  
• The Simpsons (Fox) - A new episode did 6.97 million, below normal and very low 3.3 18-49 for a new episode.
  
• King of the Hill (Fox) - Just 6.08 million.
  
• Family Guy (Fox) - 7.97 million and a better 4.2 18-49 rating.
• American Dad (Fox) - 6.64 million, not bad and a decent 3.4 18-49 rating.
  

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A repeat did just 5.61 million.
  
• Old Christine (CBS) - 5.66 million for a repeat, it did build from lead-in a bit.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 10.37 million for a repeat, slightly below the normal repeat numbers.
• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - 7.99 million for a repeat, not bad, but not too great out of the lead-in.
  
• CW Monday Comedies: Chris, All of Us, Girfriends, The Game. New episode of Chris started it off with 2.68 million, up from last week but NOT the highest of the block, as All of Us also did 2.68 million, Girlfriends did 2.58 million and The Game did 2.37 million. Consistent, but needs to be doing 3 to 3.5 million at least...
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• None
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - Will return this week with 2 new episodes! Guest stars Barbara Eden and Jerry Springer.
  
• According to Jim (ABC) - New episode did just 4.48 million, thanks to the terrible lead-in and again head to head with Idol.
  
• In Case of Emergency (ABC) - 4.31 million, below normal.
  
• 'Til Death (Fox) - 14.46 million from Idol's 26.89 million...is nothing to write home about, but at least it is consistent the last few weeks.

Thursday Sitcoms

• The Office (NBC) - A marathon of repeats from 8-11, except 9:30 did: 4.77, 5.04, 5.77, 4.34 and 4.24 million. Not great numbers but it was going up until 9:30 then NBC aired Barker then after that it went down.
  
• Andy Barker, P.I. (NBC) - 4.16 million for third week. It hasn't leveled off yet, which means it could go down even more this week. Last week it did 5.33 million.
  
• Family Guy (Fox) - 2 repeats did 4.34 and 4.32 million, which means 9:30 beat Barker on NBC!
  

Friday Sitcoms
None.

Saturday Sitcoms
None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are new episodes of Fox comedies.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, 'Til Death, and Rules of Engagement were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as Old Christine, The Office-thon) or just plain old terrible (such as In Case of Emergency and Andy Barker, P.I.).

Mini-DVD Review: The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner (March 20)

Welcome to another Saturday edition of mini-DVD reviews! Today we have we take a look at The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner from Comedy Central/Paramount DVD. This roast salutes the TV legend, who has starred on shows like Star Trek & TJ Hooker and currently stars on the hilarious Boston Legal. See Seth Thrasher's mini-DVD review of The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner:

The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner (Paramount/Comedy Central, $19.99) brings us another in a series of roasts that Comedy Central has done over the last several years. These roasts have in the past featured such individuals as Chevy Chase and Denis Leary - this installment is a roast of TV icon William Shatner, best known to most as playing James T. Kirk on the original Star Trek series, and who currently plays Denny Crane on the hit ABC comedic drama Boston Legal.
For those reading this that has had the pleasure to see the old Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, you know how this SHOULD be done. A group of people, most of whom know the person to be roasted, get together and thoroughly embarrass and humiliate their friend, and all have a good time. Well, the Comedy Central roasts are a lot like that. There is a group of people, and they do their best – at least in theory – to humiliate the person. There is a key difference here, which has especially become apparent in the more recent roasts (Pamela Anderson, William Shatner, etc). Most of the roasters don't even personally know the person they're roasting; they only know them from having at best having played Janitor #3 in an episode of a TV show the other appeared in eons ago. Most – not all- but most of the roasters at these things are simply B and C-list "comedians" who Comedy Central brings in for these things due to HBO no longer returning their phone calls. Why is Andy Dick here?
Admittedly, this roast does have more people that know Shatner than I originally expected, which is a relief. You have Betty White, currently working with Bill on Boston Legal, who is as funny as ever. You have filmed "tributes" from folks like Sandra Bullock and Ben Stiller. Jason Alexander is your roastmaster, and does fairly well – though this wasn't evident in the original version. In addition, most of the living original Star Trek cast was here, including George Takei and Nichelle Nichols. Between Takei’s jokes himself, and jokes directed at him, there is certainly no shortage of gay jokes in this one.
Leonard Nimoy appeared in a pre-taped bit...except it is not here. Either Mr. Nimoy didn’t clear his appearance for DVD initially, or revoked it after seeing what kind of show the rest of the roast turned out to be, or something else happened, but the bit with Leonard is gone. Further slapping the face of the concept of releasing material uncut, several of the musical pieces are gone, as has become the standard for Paramount releases lately.
As far as the technical side, things are dull and expected. Black case with the Shat-man on the front. Video quality is fine, and audio – aside from the music replacement issue – sounds fine. Technically, the only fault with the set is the replacements. There are a couple of features – a quick "Making of the Roast" segment that goes nowhere and does nothing, behind the scenes footage, and red carpet interviews. Also included are three short segments from Reno 911, Drawn Together, and The Colbert Report – easily funnier than 90% of the DVD content.
Folks, I am a huge fan of William Shatner, a huge fan of Boston Legal, a huge fan of Star Trek, and a huge fan of the "roasting" concept – and I honestly had trouble sitting through this. While funny in places, a lot of the show was just painful. If you're THAT much of a fan that you need to own everything Bill has ever done, then by all means buy the set. If you want to see it that badly, rent it. Between the overall quality of the roast itself, and the deletions – one of which is to the severe detriment of the set, the score of the set is simply dragged down. From a technical standpoint the set is fine, but the material is just not that good. There are a few moments, which might warrant a rental, but that is about it. Strong recommendation to avoid.

-- Reviewed by Seth Thrasher
(3/5 stars)

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Fox Changes Sunday Schedule; Not Good News For 'WKRP' DVD

Fox has booked April 22 for The War at Home season finale (series finale I bet) at a special time of 7 p.m. Effective that date, King of the Hill will move back to 7:30 p.m. for the rest of the season with The Simpsons encores airing at 8:30 for the rest of the season. King of the Hill will also air a mix of new episodes and repeats at 7 p.m. starting April 29.
And when the season ends, the summer Sunday line-up will again be changed. Starting June 10, encores of The War at Home will air at 7:00 p.m., King of the Hill follows at 7:30 p.m., The Simpsons encores at 8:00 p.m., American Dad encores move to 8:30 p.m., Family Guy encores at 9:00 p.m. and the return of The Loop with all new episodes at 9:30 p.m.
Finally, Fox will just air the yet to air new drama Drive for 6 weeks now. The drama will air Mondays starting April 16 and will conclude May 7, but Fox says the remaining 7 episodes will return, probably in late summer, if it does well.

Jamie J. Weinman's "Something Old, Something New" blog has just posted a story on their thoughts on the WKRP Season 1 DVD. Jamie's blog, which are thoughts on popular culture and unpopular culture, lists the music replaced and even worse...the list of edits on the season one DVD. Jamie says, it's pretty similar to the list of music changes from the late '90s syndication package; some of the generic music and overdubbing is the same in both versions. Not good at all. You can read his great list HERE. And look for our detailed review from skees53 very soon! It will unfortunately not be a positive review...but hopefully fans still buy it but tell Fox they are not happy.

ION Television Soars in Ratings, Upfront Planned May 3; ABC Drops 'Dream Vote'

ION Television continues to deliver significant ratings gains in weekday primetime versus last year. According to the latest Nielsen Media Research data, ION Television’s weekday primetime average is up 30 percent for the season compared to the first two quarters of 2006.
The network will host an Upfront sales presentation for advertisers on Thursday, May 3, 2007 in New York City to unveil its programming strategy for the 2007-2008 season. RHI Entertainment, which will serve as ION Television’s exclusive programming supplier on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights beginning June 29, will provide a sneak preview of some of the original titles debuting on ION later this year.
For the week ending March 25, ION Television delivered its best performance for a single program this season with its broadcast of The Cowboys, starring John Wayne, on Sunday, March 25 at 8 p.m. The movie posted a 0.9 HH rating (1,044,000), boosting the night’s primetime average to a 0.8 HH rating (932,000), the network’s highest single weekend night performance for the season.
Overall, ION Television’s weekend movies, currently featuring popular titles from the libraries of Warner Bros., Sony Pictures and NBC Universal, have improved their time period by over 50 percent in households compared to the first two quarters of 2006.
In addition, during the recently concluded February Sweep period, ION Television’s viewers proved they love their Mama, with Mama’s Family posting a 0.9 HH rating (1,008,000) on Thursday, February 15. The night, anchored by Diagnosis Murder at 9 p.m. and Charlie’s Angels at 10 p.m., delivered the network’s highest single weeknight performance for the season at a 0.7 HH rating (752,000).
Don't forget the new spring line-up starts April 2 with the additions of Moral Court, Alice, The Wonder Years and the return of Amen. Also, the classic Battlestar Galactica will air on Sundays.

Also in the news today, after just two airings (with just one in its regular time period of Wednesdays at 8), ABC will pull The Great American Dream Vote off the schedule starting next Wednesday, April 4. Reruns of George Lopez will fill the hour that week. April 11 and 18 will probably be reruns of George as well, because new episodes were slated to return April 25 when Dream Vote concluded. This is much better news, as many of us would much rather watch George!

ABC Sitcom 'Notes' To Premiere After 'Anatomy'; JustMyShow.com Interviews; Nick at Nite Weekend Change for This Weekend

ABC will be revising its 'notes' after 'anatomy' class starting April 12. ABC will debut new sitcom Notes from the Underbelly on Thursday, April 12 at 10 p.m. with two back-to-back episodes following a Grey's Anatomy Clip Show. It is almost unheard of for a sitcom to air in the 10 p.m. hour so this will be interesting. ABC plans on airing Notes for three weeks (that's six half-hour episodes) in the slot. Previously Notes was supposed to replace In Case of Emergency on Wednesdays at 9:30 starting April 11, but that will not happen now, which means all 13 of In Case of Emergency's episodes will now air, instead of just 11. So that means Wednesdays at 9:30 will be vacant starting April 25...maybe Knights of Prosperity will return for its last four episodes of the season?
ABC was planning on returning Men in Trees to the Thursday at 10 slot starting April 12, but that is not happening. It is still unclear what ABC will do with the five remaining Trees episodes. It is possible that they could move the show to Fridays at 8 starting April 13 for 5 weeks or hold-off on the remaining five episodes for next season, where it could air for at least 27 new episodes next season, something Boston Legal & Grey's Anatomy did their first seasons.
Now, Notes from the Underbelly is just airing for three weeks on Thursdays, but what about after that? That is also sort of still unclear, but this is what will look like happen: April 12, 19, & 26 will be Notes from the Underbelly; May 3 will be the special two-part episode of Grey's Anatomy introducing the spin-off; and May 10 & 17 is unclear but it looks like ABC will bring back October Road for episodes five and six, rather than ending after episode four on April 5. That show has impressed thus far.
We will keep you up to date if anything is concrete later today or in the coming days. Keep checking back!

Our good friend Eric from JustMyShow.com has a new episode up on his website. This time he chats with Tom Wopat from The Dukes of Hazzard and Alan Spencer, creator of the cult sitcom Sledge Hammer. This episode is the series' 13th episode. Congrats Eric! That is more than many of the TV series these days! Anyway, click HERE to listen to this episode. As usual, Eric is on top of his game and knows his stuff. Great preparation.

Finally, Nick at Nite will edit this weekend's schedule. Like last weekend, it will be all Fresh Prince. Though last weekend the first three half-hours were Full House because of that Jesse marathon, but not this weekend. This Saturday and Sunday it is all Will Smith all the time. Saturday from 10-6am and Sunday from 9pm-6am only on Nick at Nite.
Will Fresh Prince weekend be a weekly thing? Who knows.

Canada's DejaView Channel Salutes Three Sitcoms; Fox Expands 'Idol' Results Show, Ends 'Til Death' Early, 'Delays 'Standoff'

April on Canada's DejaView leaves no milestone unturned as the network pays homage to Hogan's Heroes, Three's Company, and M*A*S*H. with day-long marathons April 6, 7 and 8.
DejaView commemorates the 36th anniversary of Hogan's Heroes' last original episode ("Rockets and Romance," April 4, 1971) with a day-long marathon Friday, April 6 beginning at 6am ET.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of TV audiences' first encounter with Jack, Janet and Chrissy, the lovably loopy roommates of Three's Company (debut: March 15, 1977). The trio, along with Cindy, Terri, Larry, Mr. Furley and the Ropers, is feted with a special marathon featuring 16 hilarious episodes specially chosen from the series' 174-episode run on Saturday, April 7 beginning at 6 am ET.
The laughter's a-surgeon as M*A*S*H* celebrates its 35th year in 2007 (debut: September 17, 1972). With an army of the most memorable characters to ever grace television - Hawkeye, Trapper, Hot Lips, Radar, Klinger – M*A*S*H* finds the humour and pathos in everything from minor abrasions to Major Burns. Fans can spend the day with them all as DejaView presents 16 episodes of the gold-standard sitcom Sunday, April 8 beginning at 6am ET.
To see the line-up for all three marathons, click HERE.

The American Idol Results Show, continuing to feature performances by renowned musical artists who mentor the contestants each week, will expand from 30 minutes to 60 minutes on the following dates: Wednesday, April 11 (9:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed); Wednesday, April 18 (9:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed); and Wednesday, May 2 (9:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX.
'Til Death, the comedy that looks at married life from the divergent perspectives of a long-married couple, played by Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher, and their neighbors who've been married for just a year, played by Eddie Kaye Thomas and Kat Foster, will conclude its first season with a special one-hour finale episode Wednesday, April 11 at a special time 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT on FOX, leading into an expanded American Idol Results Show.
Ted McGinley, Joely Fisher's sister Tricia Fisher, Krysten Ritter and Tim Sharp guest-star on the Webby's Not Happy/Summer of Love season finale of 'Til Death.
Meanwhile, freshman drama Standoff was slated to return April 6 on Fox in its new Fridays at 8 slot, but that will not happen now. Fox will continue to air encores of House on Fridays at 8 until further notice. Standoff might be now burned-off in the summer. Sorry!

AmericanLife TV April Highlights; TV One April Highlights

It is double the please of the month of April today, as we take a look at AmericanLife and TV One's April line-ups!

AmericanLife TV Network, the only independent network devoted to the Baby Boomer spring with a bevy of April beauties, including a star-studded new episode of the healthy lifestyle series Alive & Well, a special hour-long episode of 'Til Debt Do Us Part helping engaged couples out of debt, the premiere episodes of F Troop and Homefront, guest star turns by Star Trek's Scotty and Sulu on The Gallant Men, and appearances by the likes of Sal Mineo on Combat!, and Boris Karloff and Peter Lawford on I Spy.
Also in April Secret Agents lurk Wednesdays on AmericanLife TV, with such series as The Man from U.N.C.L.E and I Spy!
Click HERE to view the full highlights!

On to TV One, on Easter Sunday April 8, starting at 8pm, TV One presents a special 30th anniversary showing of the highest-rated and most acclaimed mini-series ever in the history of television, Roots. Based on Alex Haley's book tracing his own family history, Roots told the saga of African-American life through many generations, dealing frankly with the issue of slavery. Presented in six 2-hour parts, TV One has recruited original cast members, including LeVar Burton, Leslie Uggams, Ben Vereen, Louis Gossett Jr. and Richard Roundtree, as hosts for individual nights of the broadcast.
Parts 1-5 will air Sunday, 4/8 through Thursday 4/12 at 8pm with encore performances each night at 10pm. Friday and Saturday will provide chances for viewers to catch up on any parts they may have missed, with Parts 1 & 2 re-airing at 8pm and 10pm respectively on Friday 4/13, and all of Parts 1-5 airing in order from 2pm to 12m on Saturday 4/14. The conclusion of the mini-series airs on Sunday April 15 at 8pm (and 10pm).
Starting Sunday night April 8 in the overnight hours, TV One will celebrate Amen Sundays all month long from 2am to 6am, with mini-marathons of the classic '8-s Sherman Hemsley sitcom.
Starting Monday April 16, the sketch sitcom Wanda At Large returns to weekdays on TV One each evening at 9pm, pushing Good Times to 9:30pm. All About The Andersons currently at 9:30pm weeknights, takes over the current Wanda slot on Saturdays at 6pm.
On Saturday April 21, beginning at 1pm, join TV One for the "Big Baller" Sitcom Marathon in preparation for the series premiere of I Married a Baller later that evening. Episodes of your favorite TV One sitcoms such as In the House, Martin, Eve, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, and Amen are showcased featuring guest star appearances from some famous 'Ballers' including football legend Eddie George, who is one of the stars of I Married a Baller. Other 'Ballers' slated to appear in this TV One sitcom marathon are: Tim Hardaway, Charles Barkley, Marcus Allen, Reggie Miller, Gary Payton, Cheryl Miller, Randall Cunningham, Lisa Leslie, Kobe Bryant, and Derek Fisher.

Week 27 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did

Week 27 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: Fox: 9.5/14.7; CBS: 7.8/12.6; ABC: 7.5/12.0; NBC: 5.1/8.1; The CW: 2.1/3.2; MNT: 0.7/1.1.
Total Viewers: Fox: 15.86 million; CBS: 12.17 million; ABC: 11.52 million; NBC: 7.68 million; The CW: 3.17 million; MNT: 0.94 million.
Adults 18-49: Fox: 6.1/16.2; ABC: 4.0/10.7; CBS: 3.8/10.3; NBC: 2.5/6.6; The CW: 1.4/3.7; MNT: 0.4/0.9.

Analysis: The 27th week saw the return of ABC's Dancing with the Stars to huge numbers...the highest premiere numbers for the show ever. Fox did well like usual with American Idol, but Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader, airing on its own now, dipped to a series low. Through the first four nights, Fox has the lead, followed by CBS and ABC battling for second place in HH, viewers and 18-49. NBC will be 4th place in all categories. They sure miss Sunday Night Football. As usual, Friday and Saturday numbers are not above, since final numbers are not available yet. Tonight has ABC airing half the night with repeats, but CBS is all new, along with Fox's comedies and NBC's reality. Expect CBS to win.
On Monday Dancing with the Stars returned and dominated for ABC. 21.8 million watched thw two-hour season premiere denting CBS's comedies the most. CBS's CSI: Miami was did well at 10pm with 17.66 million at 10pm and NBC's Deal or No Deal was down against Stars, but still solid with 14.19 million for a special two-hour episode. CBS 8-9pm sitcoms were very anemic for CBS, doing 7.27 and 6.74 million for new episodes. Two and a Half Men rose from those numbers and did 11.68 million (probably a series low for a new episode, usually it does 15 million+), with a new Rules of Engagement following and not holding the lead-in's numbers like it has been doing, just 9.26 million. Fox was not that affected by Stars, but both Prison Break & 24 were down from usual numbers, they did 8.4 and 11.8 million, about 1-2 million off from previous new episodes. ABC and NBC did bad at 10pm, ABC did just 6.43 million for What About Brian and NBC's Black Donnelleys continues to go down each week, with just 5.53 million. The CW's comedies are still under performing on this night as they still can't get 3 million. All four were close to each other though.
Tuesday was Fox's night. American Idol did 29.96 million for two-hours and that was more than enough to win the night. CBS was second with NCIS, The Unit from 8-10 doing well, and a repeat of CSI aired at 10. NBC aired repeats of both Law & Order spin-offs doing 6.37 and 7.5 million from 9-11pm (seems low...), with Dateline kicking the night off with just 5.62 million. ABC saw a AFV repeat open up with just 5.35 million (no more AFV Tuesdays starting this week), followed by Primetime: The Outsiders with just 5.01 million. Boston Legal with guest star Megan Mullally rose from that but still did below average with 9.14 million. The CW aired a repeat of Gilmore Girls (2.08 million) and a new Pussycat Dolls (3.12 million).
Wednesday again Fox got the boost from its one show wonder American Idol, doing 27.08 million for its 9pm half-hour followed by the sitcom 'Til Death losing 1/2 that with 14.88 million. Bones opened the night off for Fox with a respectable 10.47 million. CBS was second for the night with Jericho not on this week, but a special Wednesday Survivor aired doing a below average 12.78 million...will people return when it comes back to Thursdays? Criminal Minds and CSI: NY followed and did good (but not dominant) with 15.19 and 13.64 million. ABC's comedy block opened up with George Lopez doing 5.92 and two repeats of According to Jim & a new In Case of Emergency followed (5.99, 5.42, 5.13 million) and an all-new Lost, which was a great episode, did 12.22 million, and it won the hour in 18-49. Lost has been very steady in this slot, but down from normal numbers it got earlier this season when it aired at 9. NBC saw Friday Night Lights do just 5.39 million, Crossing Jordan followed with just 6.15 million, up from last week. A repeat of Medium followed with 5.95 million. The CW was on the map thanks to America's Next Top Model doing a decent 5.04 million...not bad at all, followed by an encore of Tuesday's Pussycat Dolls doing 3.13 million.
On Thursday we saw ABC dominate, as CBS aired NCAA Tournament coverage. ABC's Grey's Anatomy anchored the night at 9pm with 22.3 million and a dominant 9.0 18-49 rating. Ugly Betty opened the night off with a below average 10.41 million. Fox's Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? hit a series low but is probably effecting Betty just a bit (5th Grader did 10.82 million, but Betty beat it in HH, 7.3 to 6.5). ABC's second episode of the impressive October Road closed the night off with 11.5 million (and a 4.6 18-49 rating), much better than Men in Trees. CBS's NCAA coverage was a solid second doing 8.98 and 9.93 million for both games. Fox closed the night with repeats of Family Guy & American Dad doing just 4.89 and 3.86 million. NBC aired mix of encores and all-new episodes of comedies from 8-10pm. Hour one was a repeat of My Name is Earl and hour two was all new and saw Scrubs and 30 Rock. NBC aired the second episode of Raines at 10pm and did just 8.71 million. Let's see how it does on Fridays next week. And CW aired its Thursday dramas doing 4.07 and 3.38 million.
Friday (numbers not counted in our ratings), saw CBS win the night with NCAA Tournarment coverage. NBC was a distant second with the disappointing Identity and Miss USA. ABC had a repeat of Thursday's Grey's Anatomy and the return of Six Degrees didn't do so well but 20/20 built on that and did a bit better. The CW did decent for its WWE coverage and Fox didn't do so well with Wedding Bells at 9. Overall a below average night.
Saturday ratings are not available yet. As for tonight, CBS will win with its normal line-up. ABC's big dramas are in repeats, but AFV and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition are new and will compete well and Fox will battle ABC for 18-49. NBC's reality line-up will not pull big ratings, but Deal or No Deal should do a solid 10 million or so at 9. As for this week in general, look for Dancing with the Stars to continue to do well and now the Results Show premieres this Tuesday! A new reality series hosted by Donny Osmond debuts Tuesday after Stars on ABC.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of March 12-18)

• The War at Home (Fox) 2 episodes -2.64 million for a repeat and just 3.42 million for a new episode...
  
• The Simpsons (Fox) - A repeat did 6.89 million, below normal.
  
• The Winner (Fox) 2 episodes - Final two episodes did just 5.55 and 5.14 million.
  
• Family Guy (Fox) - Repeat did 7.03 million.
  

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - Just 7.27 million for a new episode. Series low, I assume?
  
• Old Christine (CBS) - 6.74 million. Dancing killed it.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 11.68 million for a new episode...way below normal.
• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - 9.26 million...like all CBS comedies that aired on this day...DOWN from usual.
  
• CW Monday Comedies: Chris, All of Us, Girfriends, The Game. New episode of Chris started it off with 2.53 million, the highest of the block. The rest ranged 2.14 to 2.35 million. Consistent, but needs to be doing 3 to 3.5 million at least...
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• None
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - 5.92 million...down slightly from from last week.
  
• According to Jim (ABC) 2 episodes -Two repeats did OK, with 5.99 and 5.42 million
  
• In Case of Emergency (ABC) - 5.13 million, up from last week, but down from two weeks ago's 6+ million.
  
• 'Til Death (Fox) - 14.88 million from Idol's 27.08 million...you do the math.

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - A one-hour repeat did 6.73 million
  
• Scrubs (NBC) - 6.44 million watched a new episode.
  
• Andy Barker, P.I. (NBC) - 5.33 million...down even from last week's bad premiere numbers.
  
• Family Guy (Fox) - A repeat on a Thursday did 4.89 million.
  
• American Dad (ABC) - A repeat on a Thursday did just 3.86 million...the show returns after a few weeks off tonight (Sunday).
  

Friday Sitcoms
None.

Saturday Sitcoms
None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are new episodes of Fox comedies.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, 'Til Death, and Rules of Engagement were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs) or just plain old terrible (such as American Dad Thurs and Andy Barker, P.I.).

Mini-DVD Review: The New Adventures of He-Man Vol. 2 (March 27)

Welcome to another edition of mini-DVD reviews! Today we take a look at BCI's second & final volume of The New Adventures of He-Man. The New Adventures He-Man of course was created because of the popularity of the original series in syndication. It lasted one full season, and you can get the final half of that season on a great 6-disc set from BCI. See my mini-DVD review of The New Adventures of He-Man - Volume 2:

The New Adventures of He-Man - Volume 2 (BCI, $49.98) brings the final 32 episodes from the series' only season. BCI did a VERY nice job with the original series and volume one of the new series, and this set is right on par. The series had just one season, and probably isn't as popular as the original series. Like I mentioned last time, I don't remember much about this series at all actually. Like the original He-Man, this was a first-run syndicated series and aired weekdays after school in 1990-91, so every day was basically a new episode. We have great extras again on these DVDs. BCI is very consistent and doesn't disappoint. In this series, He-Man heads to the future to the planet Primus. No more planet Eternia, but the villain Skeletor is back! The main villain in this really is Flogg and his mutants. This is certainly a new beginning and different from the original series, but still good! None of the original characters are back but He-Man and Skeletor. The menu screen has the options of Play All, Episodes, and Settings, with nice animated menus. When we select a sub-menu we get a nice transition music or even a nice transition video. When we select Settings, we change from English to Spanish, or vice versa. When we go to Episodes, nice animation and music plays with the episode title listed, you can choose play or select chapters to get to a scene faster. The director and writers of each episode are listed along with a nice long synopsis of the episode. Like the original series DVDs and volume one of this serues, these are the most informative episode menus I have ever seen. Nicely done! Chapters sub-menu has 4 stops with a nice little video in the box of each and interesting facts from Gleep on the right...again informative! The video is pretty good and the audio is also decent. There are a few episodes that are digitally remastered for optimum video & audio....you'll be greeted with that night in the beginning of rhe episode, if they had to remaster it. I guess those had terrible prints, but the remastered episodes look great! The packaging is the same style as the original series and volume one of the new series, a nice outer box with a very nice looking digipak. There are nice images on the digipak along with memorable quotes from the episodes on this set. Each disc has its own section, so no overlapping and easy to take out. Also the disc's art matches the packaging when we take the disc out...so cool. A nice episode booklet comes with the set that details so much along with two collectible 4 X 6 cards by two wonderful artists. BCI's consistency continues as we have had all this on previous sets. On the episodes itself, each one runs around 22 minutes or so. The bonus features are all on disc six. All the extras are listed on the main menu on disc six. The first option is Documentary Features, there are two of them: "Fans of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" and this runs 29:14. The top fans of this brand have come for this feature to talk about the history and their take...not only for the new series but the original series as well. The next documentary is "The Power of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" and this runs 28:35. This documentary gives the final take from the producers and other people behind the scenes...very informative! Then the next extra is called "Character Profiles." 50 detailed profiles of various Characters, Guest Characters and Technologies. When selecting one from each category, you get some text and you can play a little clip related to what you chose. Very cool. Finally, there is also a trailers section for other BCI/Ink & Paint DVDs such as She-Ra, Flash Gordon and the original He-Man.
This is indeed a wonderful set and BCI finishes the He-Man brand in a great and quality way, just like how they started. I don't remember much about this show, but thanks to BCI, I can relive this and try to remember. Now I have the original series and the new series all on DVD! All He-Man aficionados should get them all, if they haven't already. And if you've always wanted to see these series, try starting today. By the power of good and the way of the magic, the battle begins anew, but buying this final DVD is still the old way by clicking on the link below! Primus is yours!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
(5/5 stars)

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